Anthony Fauci, director of the National Institute of Allergy and Infectious Diseases, is warning about a new variant of COVID-19, the BA.2 variant, and suggested that lockdowns may again be back on the table. Fauci told CNN that the United States may need to “pivot and go back to any degree of mitigation that is commensurate with what the situation is.” Meanwhile, the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention is warning that if an end to the pandemic is declared, the agency would lose the additional powers it received under the public health emergency. This includes its current powers to tap financial reserves and to avoid normal requirements under the Health Insurance Portability and Accountability Act. And in other news, there are contradicting rumors around the state of the Russia-Ukraine war, ranging from a ceasefire to an assassination order, to an alleged risk of a coup in Russia. In this …